Four Nations
by Karen Elaine DuLay
Summary: A look at the personifications of the Four Nations, both their current selves, their predecessors, and any vaguely nation-like region I can get away with personifying. Will start with the commonly-accepted four in the Avatar cycle, then more obscure ones.
1. Fire Nation

**A/N: Almost forgot this...don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender, but the personifications are mine.**

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Fire Nation

He stood taller than most men: of the nations, he was second only to the Foggy Swamp Water Tribe. His hair was a rich, luxurious black, deeper than the night, and his eyes were an amber-gold that rivaled the intensity of a dragon. Once, long ago, he had been a sage: but in those days he was young, and thought that wisdom and knowledge and spiritual guidance would make him strong. Now, he scorned the memory of those days, those bright, beautiful days, when he and the other nations—then merely the Water Tribe, multiple city-states and regions of what was now the Earth Kingdom, and the Air Nomads—would play in the fields of their homes, laughing and chasing each other as if they had no cares.

But then he grew, as the Fire Sages that governed him began to venerate one of their own above all others, even themselves. This Sage, the Great Fire Sage, had a smooth tongue, and the Fire Nation began to look to the Chieftain of the Water Tribe, or the Kings and Queens of the Earth Kingdoms, with envy. His Great Sage saw the desire, and one day the Fire Nation left his quarters from his daily meditation to find that the Great Sage had declared himself Fire Lord.

Everyone was happy, it seemed. The Great Sage had been popular before, and now that he ruled the Fire Nation, now that he made it strong like the other nations, he was showered with affections whenever he ventured into the streets. Always at his side in those days was a young boy, just beginning to become a man, who looked up at his Fire Lord with adoring eyes and innocent trust.

The Fire Lord's ascension was not the only thing to occur at that time either. Change rippled across the world: when the Fire Lord next went to visit the Earth Kingdoms, he found only a young girl in their place, standing on a cliff before a great construction site.

"Who are you?" He asked her, wondering where his friends had gone, fearing for their safety. The girl turned her emerald eyes to him, serious yet hopeful.

"I am the Earth Kingdom." Was her reply.

He learned later that, while he had been distracted with his new Fire Lord, a warlord from the northeastern lands of the Earth Kingdoms had brought a great army to bear, and conquered the other Kingdoms in just ten years. The Fire Nation's friends, the Earth Kingdoms, proud Shan, mighty Yan, Dongxue and Diqiu and Dan, all had faded, becoming one with their new sibling, their little sister, the Earth Kingdom.

At first, she was rigid, humorless, with only intense determination showing in her eyes. But after a few years, while she adjusted to the knowledge and experience her brothers had left her and struggled to keep her fragile house from falling apart, she began to smile. Her new ruler, who proclaimed himself the Earth King, had ordered a great city built for his capital, with large walls to protect them from any attacking army. The Fire Nation saw the construction, and wondered if anyone would ever be able to breach such great walls.

Not only the Earth Kingdom emerged then, no: farther north, rumors were heard of a rift in the Water Tribe, isolated at the North Pole. When he was sure the Earth Kingdom would retain herself and her house, the Fire Nation gained permission to go north, to visit the Water Tribe. He was worried of what he might find, fearing he had lost another friend.

What he found was almost worst than simply losing the Water Tribe. Upon his arrival, in a Dragon Ship crewed by his strongest Firebenders, the Fire Nation was at first told to leave. When he would not, the Chieftain reluctantly took him to the Spirit Oasis behind the Grand Palace, warning him that he would not like what he was about to see. His words were not lost upon the nation, who was tempted to run away the moment he saw what had become of his friend.

Lying before the waters, chest heaving as he struggled to breathe, was the Water Tribe. The young man looked at his old friend with glazed eyes, then grinned madly. His body was covered in bruises and cuts, all seeming self-inflicted. A bloody, bone knife rested in one hand: his wrists had been cut.

"Fire!" The Water Tribe croaked. "Long time no see!" A glint appeared in his eye, and the Fire Nation shrank back on instinct. "What happened to your prayer robes, sage-boy?"

The Fire Nation glanced down at his clothing, which he supposed would be foreign to one who hadn't seen him of late. His robes and beads of a sage, once all he would agree to wear, were long forgotten, by insistence of his Fire Lord. Now he wore an elaborate tunic of deep red and black, with matching pants and armguards, covered by a thick fur cloak of crimson.

"What happened to you?" The Fire Nation finally whispered. "Why are you hurt? You…you did this to yourself, didn't you?"

"So what if I did?" The Water Tribe drawled, his mad grin widening. "My people are divided. They want me to die. They want to be two. I've gotta cut myself in half so they can each have a part—no!" Anger flew across his face, and he growled at himself. "No! They will unite again! I will recover, grow strong…" His rage faded, and a sort of insane joy overtook him. "Death to the Water Tribe!" He crowed, as if not knowing he was calling for his own death. "Death to the Water Tribe!"

The Fire Nation fled, running as fast he could, not stopping until he was on his ship, and refusing to stir from his quarters until they were again in warmer lands. He confined himself to his room upon returning to his house, and would not leave until the Fire Lord himself sat outside the door for over a week, waiting for him to open the door. Once he finally returned to the outside world, he lived in fear of word from the north, telling of his friend's death.

Word finally came, and it was in the form of a group of Water Tribe Benders, Healers, and warriors, and their families, traveling south. They were allowed safe passage through Fire Nation waters, but the Fire Nation noticed one young girl amongst them who reminded him strongly of his friend the Water Tribe. Worried, he questioned her and her people of what had befallen the boy.

"He is dead." The girl said, voice eerily old. "But he died to give my brother and I life. We are the new Water Tribes, he the Northern, and I the Southern. I am traveling now to my home, the South Pole, in the hope that I may establish my people there and guide them to greatness." Her sapphire eyes, exact copies of the Water Tribe's, of her father's, were as blank as the Earth Kingdom's once were. One day, they would grow bright with feeling and thought and life.

But the Fire Nation could only remember his last sight of his dear friend the Water Tribe, and shivered in fear as he wondered what would happen if his people wanted to become two.

Over a thousand years passed. The nations grew to adulthood, as their people banded together and built them into great civilizations. It was in this time that Air Nomads, a sweet, kind girl, gave birth to four children before fading away. With her death, the Fire Nation, who had once been the youngest of the nations, became the oldest. Air Nomad's daughter, Western Air Temple, lived near his house, and out of respect for her mother and a sort of duty that his past friendship to Air Nomads gave him, the Fire Nation often visited, offering her any help she might want.

The line of Fire Lords flourished as well. After the death of his first Fire Lord, a great series of catacombs was ordered built under his capital, where the ashes of the line would rest forever. Due to the fortunate existence of an old dragon graveyard, the Dragon Bone Catacombs were born. It was a place for the Fire Nation to visit his rulers, and he began to spend more and more time there. Sometimes, he even considered becoming a sage again. Certainly he spent enough time around the Fire Sages these days.

Other nations grew troubled, but the Fire Nation only grew. New forging techniques, metallurgy and crafting, gave way to magnificent inventions to the his glory, and he couldn't be more proud of his people. The Earth Kingdom gave birth to several children, Ba Sing Se, Omashu, the Si Wong Desert. More, lesser spirits began to guard separate parts of her house, until you could not walk through a forest without seeing some sort of evidence of an animal-form guardian. A warlord calling himself Chin attempted to conquer her, but she resisted in Ba Sing Se and on a small peninsula until Avatar Kyoshi killed Chin and created Kyoshi Island, and the Earth Kingdom once more gave birth to a child.

There were rumors of another Water Tribe within Foggy Swamp, the remnants of stragglers from the Water Tribe Schism, who had found a suitable home in the swamp and decided not to continue on to the South Pole. Nobody saw the nation, but the Fire Nation gathered, during a conversation with the Southern Water Tribe, that if such a Tribe did exist, it was definitely her son. She refused to say more on the matter, but when the Fire Nation noted that she had once been very friendly with Omashu, she turned a deep crimson and yelled at him that he didn't know what he was talking about.

Somewhere along the line, the Fire Nation realized he was in love with the Earth Kingdom. They were the two greatest nations, so they interacted the most, and he learned that he could not look into her green eyes enough. He didn't know how she felt, however, so he remained silent.

Then a new Fire Lord came to the throne. His name was Sozin, and he envisioned a Fire Nation powerful enough to crush the world and hold the other nations under his thumb. With persuasive words and undeniable charm, the Fire Nation began to think that perhaps he should just take what he wanted, and damn the consequences. Avatar Roku, one of his own, spoke against it, but in the dreams of a life with all he could want at his fingertips, the Fire Nation was deaf to any argument. Because he wanted to have what he thought he never could. He wanted to have her. The Earth Kingdom.

One day, when the Fire Lord deemed their strength enough, he led a small force to the shores of the Earth Kingdom and conquered Taku, a walled city on the coast.

The Earth Kingdom strode into the city angrily, demanding why he had dared to claim a part of her land. "Because my people are so numerous, we must send some elsewhere. Please, surely you can stand for me to share my people and our advancements with you?"

But Avatar Roku was furious, and threatened his Fire Lord unless the colonies were abolished. Shamed, the Fire Nation returned home, staying on deck to watch the land until he could no longer see the Earth Kingdom. He knew she was angry, but he would make it up to her. After all, he could only do as his Fire Lord commanded: centuries ago, he had declared himself but property, property that belonged to his beloved Fire Lord. The Earth Kingdom would understand when he explained to her.

But she refused to see him, angered by his actions, and in frustration the Fire Nation returned to his factories and his training camps, throwing himself into the rigors of a soldier's life, training until he wanted to collapse. Avatar Roku continued to defy Fire Lord Sozin, and the Fire Nation grew to wonder if the former friends would ever make up. He continued to train, to build, to grow strong, claiming he was simply working for progress's sake.

One night, a rumbling woke him, and the Fire Nation felt a burning in his chest. A volcano, one of many that made up his home, was erupting, and he staggered to a window to see if it was visible. Miles away, fire and lava burst into the sky, and the ground beneath him trembled with the fury of its eruption. A flash of blue, and he realized the Fire Lord was riding his dragon towards the island, going to save it and its people as the Fire Lords, his great and benevolent rulers, always did.

What happened on that island, what truly happened, only Sozin would know. But he returned with the grim news that Avatar Roku had died attempting to protect the village at the foot of the volcano. The people had fled, including the Avatar's wife Ta Min, but their homes were lost.

When Ta Min and the other refugees arrived at the capital, she drew the Fire Nation aside, and pressed a bundle of fabric into his hands. "My husband couldn't be bothered to remember to retrieve this." She whispered, voice thick with tears. "But you should have it. Give it to whomever you see fit." Then she vanished into the crowds. He never saw Ta Min again: she committed suicide upon returning to her quarters, unwilling to live without her beloved husband.

He never opened the bundle. Years later, he would give it to Princess Ursa, Ta Min and Roku's granddaughter, but he never knew what was wrapped in that cloth.

Twelve years later, Sozin came to him and declared that they were ready to continue their Glorious March of Civilization, which Avatar Roku had interrupted. To ensure the Avatar would be unable to disrupt them this time, they would target the nation that the next Avatar had been born into: the Air Nomads.

The Fire Nation understood that the first attack must wait for the Comet, which he named for his great Fire Lord, but he was itching to get on with it. Despite his former closeness with the Air Nomads, despite the fact that the Western Air Temple still trusted him with her life, he just wanted to throttle all of their throats. Amongst them was the Avatar. And the Avatar kept him from his great goal: the Earth Kingdom. His beloved.

When the comet arrived, the Fire Nation mounted his dragon steed and prepared to storm the Western Air Temple. On the other side of the world, a great fleet of warships had brought a similarly-large force to the Eastern Air Temple, traversing the nearly-impossible currents of the sea to the west of the Fire Nation and the east of the Earth Kingdom. Others had gone to the Northern and Southern Air Temples. But the Fire Nation wanted this Air Temple, this girl who had been so close to him in the past, to die at least by his hand. He thought it might be easier on her that way.

Later, he would learn he had lost substantial numbers to the other Air Temples. Airbenders, though pacifists, were still incredibly strong fighters, and they were able to take out many of his forces before being overwhelmed. All he knew was that the Western Air Temple, thinking his military force merely a group of training recruits, welcomed him eagerly, with open arms.

She died with confusion in her eyes as the Fire Nation shoved his sword into her chest, her arms still opened wide to give him a welcoming hug.

With the fall of the Air Nomads, the Avatar should have died as well. But he slipped through their grasp, and Sozin became obsessed with finding him, even as his son Azulon was born. Sozin's eldest son, Tozan, took over the affairs of the war so his father could go out and search for the Avatar. The boy would die in later years, him and his next three brothers, leaving Azulon the only heir to Sozin.

The first attack after the Air Nomad's destruction was once more on Taku. This time, the Fire Nation burned it to the ground, and ordered the construction of a new Fire Nation town on its ashes. His beloved, the Earth Kingdom, had known he would first attack that city, and had joined its defenders. During the battle, she was captured, and suddenly she was at the Fire Nation's mercy.

He could barely believe it at first. After years of desire, first to be met with indifference, then anger, she was his, bound at his feet as he sat on a throne in his command tent. With a voice that threatened to shake, he ordered his advisors and servants and generals to leave them while he discussed the possibility of a simple surrender by the Earth Kingdom.

She glared at him, those emerald eyes charged with hatred, eyes that he still remembered from when they were dull and lifeless, then passionate and happy. For her to look at him like that, he almost wanted to die: but she would come around. He knew that the love he felt for her would convince her, if not today then one day in the future, that they were meant to unite their respective nations and people. But for now, she would learn that the Fire Nation would not back down.

His only intent was to try convincing her, and he removed the gag to speak softly to her, hoping to hear a positive answer. But she heard his words with stony eyes, then spat in his face when he asked for an answer. Wiping her spittle off with a discarded Earth Kingdom flag, the Fire Nation informed her grimly that, one way or another, he would win.

"You may burn my children and my home, and chain me in the deepest dungeon." She growled at him. "You may whisper words of your pretend love to me and bind our hands together. But I will never surrender."

"My 'pretend' love?" The Fire Nation was hurt by her words, so hurt. Perhaps this was how the Western Air Temple had felt when he thrust his sword into her chest. For a moment, he wavered in his resolve—was this right? Should he continue this war?

Then he looked into her eyes, and his beloved Fire Lord's words once more rang in his head. "If you desire something…take it." He had to prove to her that he loved her. And he knew how.

"I speak only the truth when I say I am in love with you." The Fire Nation murmured, kneeling down next to her. He pulled her into a forceful kiss, and wrapped her in his arms, and forced her down. She realized what he intended, and fought back, only convincing him more that she needed to see how much he truly loved her.

She escaped the next day, as he had thought that surely after his display of love she would not want to leave him. He woke up to an empty bed, and screamed and cried tears of despair while his guards tried to find just how she had gotten out unnoticed.

But she had vanished into the depths of Ba Sing Se, and the Fire Nation waged his war relentlessly, establishing over the next year a strong foothold on the Earth Kingdom's western coast. His armies raged across the world, conquering in just a few months several key ports and trade centers. With a fervor not unlike madness, the Fire Nation slew cities and villages, decimating the inhabitants to make way for his own citizens to settle and cultivate the land.

A year and a half after her escape, the Earth Kingdom sent him something that changed his life forever. _I hate you_, the note read. But the baby, their baby, their beautiful daughter, was living proof of the love he felt for the green-eyed, raven-haired woman.

The Fire Nation Colonies grew slowly, but before he knew it the War had been raging for forty years and she was the physical age of four. Her mother had been unseen for years now, and the Fire Nation left the Earth Kingdom campaign briefly to travel south.

There, he trained a special group of Firebenders and warriors, christening them the Southern Raiders, and led them in their first attack on the Southern Water Tribe. A great city had sprung up in the south, and the little girl had grown to a strong, brave woman. She faced him on a plain of snow, the humans about instinctively knowing to leave them to their battle, while his men used their nets to capture as many Waterbenders as possible. Her eyes were still exact copies of Water Tribe's eyes, and the Fire Nation felt a surge of regret as he remembered her father, the last sight he had of the man before his death.

Southern Water Tribe glared at him with her father's eyes. He raised his sword.

And he left.

The Southern Raiders were instructed to continue their attacks, brief but devastating raids, at least once a week. They would continue to capture Waterbenders, and the first group of captives were brought to an outlying island of the Fire Nation, where they were kept in conditions that could not possibly allow them to Bend.

Years passed, the War continued, and the Fire Nation conquered more land in the Earth Kingdom. He had taken all the Waterbenders from the south early into the raids, only losing one ship in all of his attacks. Now he focused his efforts on the Earth Kingdom.

Fifty-six years after the start of the War, the Fire Nation saw Azulon's son Iroh enter the military. Sozin had died thirty-six years prior, at the age of 102, and even as Iroh took command of a force in the northern Earth Kingdom, another Prince was born.

Iroh was a puzzle. He spoke of the glory of his nation, but preferred to drink tea and play games rather than strategize for his nation's military victories. He had defeated the last dragon, earning himself the name "Dragon of the West" at the young age of fourteen, but he only resorted to his legendary skills when there was no other option. The Fire Nation hoped he would be a greater leader when he was Fire Lord, though Azulon would hopefully last for many more years.

Then, in the ninetieth year of the War, during a great siege of the walls of Ba Sing Se itself, he saw her again. As he stood on the cliff he had first met her on, surveying the walls, wondering where best to mount an attack, the Fire Nation spotted a figure clad in green walking the wall. His breath caught, and he pulled out his spyglass to get a closer look at what his heart was screaming to see.

Years of war had not changed her beauty. Flanked by her sons, Si Wong Desert and Omashu, the Earth Kingdom was walking the Outer Wall, observing the tents of the Fire Nation Army below her. She seemed to be looking for something, and the Fire Nation hoped beyond hope it was him. But after ten minutes, she left, though not before giving the tents one final look.

The next day, they breached the wall.

The next week, Iroh's son Lu Ten died.

When they left the siege, their most promising chance at conquering Ba Sing Se (at capturing her, laying her at his feet again, convincing her that he loved her so much he had continued this War to bring her to him), the Fire Nation flew into a rage. He screamed at Iroh, tried to attack him even, sent word to Azulon that his eldest son must be cut from the line of Fire Lords. Leaving Iroh to grieve his loss, the Fire Nation returned home mere days after Azulon's death and Ozai's ascension.

Ozai, there was a true Fire Lord. He was ruthless, insisting on no quarter for their enemies. When the Fire Nation told him that the Earth Kingdom, once conquered, must be given to him, he agreed without hesitation. For years, the Fire Nation continued his War, believing Ozai the greatest Fire Lord since his grandfather Sozin, or perhaps even the very first Fire Lord.

When Zuko spoke against an aged general, and ultimately his father, the Fire Nation supported his banishment.

When the Avatar reappeared, the Fire Nation approved of putting Commander Zhao in charge, and pressed for Zhao's promotion until he was proclaimed an Admiral. As they gathered a fleet to attack the Northern Water Tribe, who hadn't been seen since the fifteenth year of the War, the Fire Nation went to a secret camp near Ba Sing Se's walls to oversee a great project.

He spent the rest of that winter, and most of that spring, watching the Drill's assembly, dreaming of when it was complete and could finally take him through the walls to his beloved. It was finished all too soon, and the Princess, Azula, promising to be as great as her father, personally commanded the attack as the Fire Nation waited in the forward-most section of the drill, so that when they broke through, he would be the first to step out, the first to see her face. Because of course she would be there, waiting for him. Perhaps she would even have realized by now how much he loved her.

But the drill was destroyed, and they were forced to flee, and the Fire Nation wanted to tear the walls down with his own hands. Azula assured him she would prevail, and captured a group of Earth Kingdom warriors from Kyoshi Island, then disappeared into the walls. He paced for four days, waiting for word, unable to contain his excitement and apprehension.

And she won. She _won_. Ba Sing Se fell to his troops. The Fire Nation had conquered the Earth Kingdom. Again, she was presented to him in chains. Again, he told her of his love.

This time she did not speak. She merely looked at him with dull, dead eyes, eyes that did not betray any emotion, any passion or life. It was as if she were dead.

He wondered what he had done.

An official wedding date was set, and he remained in Ba Sing Se with her, allowing Joo Dee to run the city while he spent his days with her. They ate in the gardens of the palace, walked the beautiful streets, listened to the best musicians. The Fire Nation was happy, happier than he had ever been. A hundred years of war, and finally she was his. In his arms. He thought it would last forever.

At the end of summer, he received word that a great, final attack on the Earth Kingdom would take place. Using the returning comet's power, a great burning would take place. On that day, the Earth Kingdom nearly died, her land scorched to ashes. But the Avatar saved the day, proclaimed the War over, and suddenly the wedding was canceled, he was forced to return to the Fire Nation, and life blazed once more in the Earth Kingdom's eyes.

Before, she had not said a word. Now she spoke.

"I hate you."

Fire Lord Zuko almost ordered the Colonies be given to her mother, the Earth Kingdom, but she clung to her father and cried in terror at the thought while he heatedly told his Fire Lord that without her their economy would collapse. So he kept his daughter, the last relic of his love for the Earth Kingdom, who now hated him more than life, and the world was once more at peace.

Fifty years passed. Avatar Aang, the last Airbender, had children, then died an early death. A new Avatar came: Korra, of the Southern Water Tribe. Troubles came and went. Zuko died, his son took the throne, then his son's son, and then Zuko's great-grandson ruled, then his great-great-grandson. Without the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation could not care what happened.

A hundred and thirty-two years after the War ended, Fire Lord Jizo's wife, Fire Lady Song, bore a daughter. As he had at so many royal births, the Fire Nation left his secluded house in the Spirit World to greet the child, to hold her.

Crown Princess Li opened her eyes for the first time to see her nation. Her tiny fingers grasped one of his. He fell in love all over again.

Now she was gone. Li, _his_ Li, was gone. The years had healed his relations with the Northern Water Tribe: the Southern Water Tribe grudgingly accepted him, but things between them would never be as casual, as friendly, as they were before the war.

His beloved Earth Kingdom had forgiven him at last, but he no longer wanted her. Now, of all the foolish things he could possibly do, he had fallen in love with a human, his future ruler. A girl who had been snatched away from him.

He would kill to get her back.


	2. Air Nomads

**Oh look...I finally wrote the next chapter... And the two after it...don't own Avatar or Hetalia. Though, this is really just Avatar, but it uses the Hetalia idea of personified nations, so it's going under crossover. Hm...maybe it doesn't count as a...but...oh well! Chapter! :D**

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Air Nomads

She had never known the constrictions of a home, of a set place where she had to live. All her life, she wandered the lands of the world, taken to the sky—and she loved it. Nothing could hold her back. Nothing could hold her down. Air Nomads was _free._

Her life was a blur of adventure and new experiences. Nothing was off-limits to her, nothing was forbidden. She could go anywhere she liked, she had friends all over the world, and she would live forever. If she wanted to do something, she did it. And why not? It wasn't like anyone could stop her from doing as she pleased!

Once a month, she would visit the Water Tribe at his icy home. He refused to leave and adventure with her, so she went to him, bringing trinkets from her travels to give him a taste of the outside world. Why he insisted on secluding himself, she did not know. Life was so much better when you simply did as you pleased! Water Tribe claimed she didn't understand the love he had for his land and people. But that land chained him down, kept him from truly _living_. She didn't understand it.

The Earth Continent Nations were very similar to Water Tribe, in that they were chained to their lands and refused to admit it. But they went even further, claiming that her inability to stay in one place meant she was irresponsible and would never be a powerful Nation like they would be. She scoffed at that. Who needed power? Air Nomads had _freedom_. That was all she needed, all she wanted from this life. When she was dead she could be "responsible."

Fire Nation…he was all right, she supposed. They weren't anywhere near as close as her and Water Tribe, but Air Nomads found herself appreciating his devotion to his spirituality. She spent several weeks a year at his place discussing philosophy, spirituality, their views of the world…it was fascinating. He could explain a point of view so well, she felt her own certainty waver in light of the facts he laid out before her. And he was the youngest Nation of them all!

One day, at his house, Air Nomads asked the Fire Nation how the other Nations could stand to be tied to a plot of land. He paused, took a drink of his Spice Tea, and looked at the ceiling.

"Do you love your people?" The Fire Nation asked, a small smile spreading across his face. Air Nomads replied that she did. "How many of them are there?"

"Not as many as yours…" Air Nomads frowned. "I don't really know. We travel the world, so there's no way of telling exactly how many of us there are. But I'm fairly sure I have the smallest population of all the Nations."

"How do you support your population?" Fire Nation inquired, absently swishing his tea around in its cup. "Do they farm? Hunt?"

"No, we get our food from the land." Air Nomads answered, puzzled. "If we want breads or fancy food, we barter or work for it before moving on. That's how we live."

"How large are the groups your people travel in?" Fire Nation continued, raising his cup to his lips for a drink.

"Family groups…mother, children, grandchildren." Air Nomads shrugged. "We don't have marriage, so all children live with their mothers and grandmothers, and usually their aunts."

"What happens if a group gets too big? Can they support themselves then?" Fire Nation picked up a small cake and regarded it with an interest usually shown by flying lemurs towards shiny objects. "Do they separate?" Air Nomads nodded. "What if they don't want to separate?"

"Well…then they have to stay in one place for a while, to get enough food from people of another nation. Sometimes they steal, but if they do other Air Nomads will stop them and split them up forcibly." Air Nomads was starting to feel uncomfortable as she realized where this was going.

"That's why we live in set areas, instead of traveling about like you." Fire Nation sat back in his seat, the cake still uneaten in his hand. "Our people want to stay with their family and loved ones forever. But we can't support ourselves if we travel, so we have to remain in one place and farm the land, or raise livestock, or turn to crafts so that we may barter for food. We don't consider ourselves tied down: we're still as free as you are. It's just that we choose to live our lives differently." And at that, he ate the cake. "This is very good. Did you make this? You should leave my cooks with the recipe."

Air Nomads was troubled by this conversation, and she spent the next year thinking about it. Was it really as bad as she thought, staying in one place all her life, not seeing anything different? Could people be really, truly happy, living like that?

She didn't she could be.

Years passed, decades, centuries, and before she knew it Air Nomads realize she was over a thousand years old. The Earth Continent became united into the Earth _Kingdom_, and Air Nomads found herself greeting a beautiful girl with black hair and amazing green eyes. Both were unsure if they could be friends at first, but it seemed that the only two female Nations were destined to be the best of friends.

And what of Water Tribe, her first best friend? Air Nomads slowly realized he had grown to be her love, and that despite the dissention growing amongst his people that threatened to split him in two, she wanted nothing more than to be with him forever. But wouldn't that tie her down, like she had always feared and scorned? Could she accept that she might be happy to live with him, at the North Pole, for the rest of her life?

It was almost a year after the Earth Kingdom's visit to the Water Tribe that Air Nomads finally confessed to her friend her love for him. He was surprised, but smiled gently at her and brushed a lock of hair from her eyes, leaning in to kiss her, and…

He went completely mad soon after.

Air Nomads found she was pregnant, and the thought terrified her. Again, a possibility of being tied down, of not being able to go where she pleased, do as she wanted, stand on a mountaintop and rejoice in its beauty without some force dragging her back to any sort of duty. Had Water Tribe been sane, she would have had no qualms leaving the child with him, but he wasn't sane, and there was no chance he could be a father. The split amongst his people was growing ever wider, and Air Nomads feared their splitting into two factions could result in him splitting in two, or worse…dying.

She gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, who resembled their father far more than they did her. Several attempts to speak to Water Tribe in his rare moments of clarity failed, and by the time the children had aged to the physical bodies of six-year-olds, he was dead. Air Nomads' heart broke.

Leaving her children, she journeyed to the Fire Nation, hoping to find some solace from the young sage boy she had last seen. But he had grown, thrown off his robes and beads and become a soldier, and he responded to her questioning like one. What had happened to the gentle, kind boy, who answered her with wisdom in his eyes and a smile on his face? This was a proud, solemn man, ignoring Air Nomad's troubles in favor of fawning over his new leader, the Fire Lord. Hadn't he once been ruled by the Fire Sages? How had this happened in the time she had spent in the Water Tribe?

Perhaps she should become a sage herself. Thinking such, Air Nomads fled into the mountains, secluding herself to search for enlightenment. Eventually, she decided to build a Temple for her people to live in, a place to rest between adventures.

Within fifty years, her son Southern Air Temple was flourishing, and her daughter Eastern Air Temple was almost finished with building her home.

Western Air Temple was born much later, and the Fire Nation promised to keep an eye on her for her mother, who was already weakening. The woman who once loathed the thought of tying herself down with a home and children now resided in the mountains of the Earth Kingdom, at the northernmost tip, as close as she could get to the place where her beloved had died. Her son now lived in his place, the Northern Water Tribe, but Air Nomads could not bear to look at him and see the face of his father. Perhaps he hated her for abandoning him when he was so young: she wouldn't blame him.

Northern Air Temple was her last child. Earth Kingdom came to be the midwife, and a healthy young boy with Air Nomads' hair and green eyes was born. He was laid in her arms, a squalling bundle of cloth and a doughy face, but Air Nomads' eyes closed. She was just tired…so…so…tired…


	3. Water Tribe

**This marks the 3/4 completion of the Avatar Cycle. After I've finished the cycle, I'll start going into the Nations you see in the series. Although, since the Air Temples were dead by then, I may have to do them first...hmmmm...**

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Water Tribe

In the earliest days, there was only one Water Tribe. His skin was tanned, his hair was brown, his eyes were blue. Such an intense shade of sapphire, they were, that he was once told he had the eyes of the Ocean Spirit. Certainly, the Ocean Spirit, as well as the Moon Spirit, had chosen him to be their protector, and every day he went to the Spirit Oasis to speak with them.

The other nations were his friends as well. He loved to walk the streets and canals of his city with the Air Nomads, who would visit him once a month at least. Less often did the various kingdoms on the Earth Continent go see him, though he didn't mind too much: they were mostly stubborn, rockheaded fools who butted heads with each other all day long. Let the Fire Nation play with them.

Ah, the Fire Nation: a strange lad, to be sure. Youngest of all the nations, still reeling from the death of his mother, the Sun Warrior, at first, the boy barely came once every decade. He was a sage, different from the other nations, and the warrior Water Tribe had a hard time understanding him. In like, the few times they played together, the Fire Nation always seemed to scorn him for his lifestyle, which utilized only what the hard land of the North Pole could give him.

Yes, the Water Tribe would rather just be friends with the Air Nomads, who was energetic and friendly and knew how to have fun. She would bring him news of fantastic places around the world, then leave again to explore more. Often, she would bring him some sort of souvenir, a rare dish or plant, pictures of exotic places. His little hut was filled with trinkets of the outside world, all gifts from her.

Those golden times, when his people still had to struggle together to live in their harsh home, were too short, even for a nation. Because as he grew better at surviving in this land of perpetual winter, his people began to bicker, argue, the unity forced on them by their struggles to survive breaking apart as they started to live more easily.

One group wanted to continue with the old ways of things, where women were trained as Healers and stayed at home to protect the children and tend the sick and injured, which were starting to become less numerous. Others wanted the women to be allowed to fight as well, now that their advancing hunting techniques and weaponry lessened the demand for Healers that was once so pressing even men had to remain at home to tend to injured hunters. The Water Tribe just wanted everything to remain as it was, just wanted the happy times to stay.

But tensions grew, and he began to feel conflicted. Perhaps one side was correct…no, surely the other…but perhaps they…no! His mind began to fragment, slowly but surely, and in the space of a century he felt his people divide, and with them, his mind.

News came from the south that the Earth Continent had been united into the Earth Kingdom, and one day a beautiful young girl came to visit him. It had been years since anyone but the Air Nomads had come, and at first he was unsure of what to say to this stunning woman.

He settled for "Hello."

They briefly discussed the status of politics in the world, and then she left. He never saw her again, but he remembered her for the rest of his life. She told him of the increase in Air Nomads, in the change in the Fire Nation's government, in the building of her new city.

A year later, he fell completely into madness.

Brief flashes of sanity were all he had, when he would wake from nightmares to realize he had mutilated himself with a knife, forgotten suicide attempts or mere cuts to ease his agony staining the ground around him red. Once, he thought he saw the Fire Nation, no longer in his sage's robes, but that couldn't be, he was such a religious little prick he wouldn't dream of forsaking his "spiritual calling." The hallucination asked what had happened to him, why he was hurting himself so, and he replied with all his mad joy.

"My people are divided. They want me to die. They want to be two. I've gotta cut myself in half so they can each have a part—no!" Anger flew across his face, and he growled at himself. "No! They will unite again! I will recover, grow strong…" His rage faded, and a sort of insane joy overtook him. "Death to the Water Tribe!" He crowed, joy filling him at the thought. "Death to the Water Tribe!"

The Fire Nation hallucination turned and fled. The Water Tribe returned to his madness.

At some point, a Healer brought two infants to see him, and told him they were his. He didn't know who their mother was at first, but then the Air Nomads came to him with tears in her eyes, a two-year-old holding each hand, begging for him, for her love, to recover. But his people would not reconcile, and he died when his children reached the physical age of six.


	4. Earth Kingdom

**The Cycle is ended. You must now wait until I eventually get around to writing more. Don't own Avatar or Hetalia!**

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Earth Kingdom

She was not sure how she came into being: she simply was. Vague memories of her brothers, from her earliest times, would flash before her eyes sometimes, but as the years passed even the memories of their faces faded.

When she was still young, he came to visit her. The Fire Nation. As she watched the construction of her future capital, gazing upon it from a cliff, she became aware of a presence approaching, and turned her emerald eyes to his amber ones, and felt her heart skip a beat.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"I am the Earth Kingdom."

He was so wonderful, in those early years. Offering her aid whenever she needed it, guiding her through the difficulties of being a nation, teaching her how to use the information her brothers had passed to her when they became one with her. Once, when he was staying with her for a night, she crept from her room to his, and sat there, watching him sleep, resisting the temptation to trace his features with a finger, lest it wake him up.

She visited the Water Tribe as well. It was only once, but she was scared to death. The Fire Nation did not know: she didn't want to risk angering him by telling him what she had done. Her visit was brief, and she realized after an hour that the Water Tribe was descending into madness as his people tore themselves apart. That it could happen to her, as well, scared her to death. Earth Kingdom fled back to Ba Sing Se, the rapidly-rising metropolis that took up so much land, and did not leave it for three years.

Finally, she received word of his death. Half of his people, including the daughter the Air Nomads had born him, left for the South Pole. The rest, his son included, stayed at the North Pole. She felt guilty that she was relieved he was gone, yet how could she rest easily with an insane nation to her north? After telling her, the Fire Nation stayed with her for a whole year, and she felt safer than ever before.

They grew up together, and the Earth Kingdom realized she was in love with the Fire Nation. As her figure grew into that of a woman, she prayed he would take notice, that during one of the formal balls they would dance together at he would hold her close longer than strictly necessary, that when they walked through Ba Sing Se or his capital or one of the other cities they met in that he would take her hand. But he never did, and she despaired of ever having him.

Politics interfered like they always did, and a warlord came to power: Chin the Conqueror. The Earth Kingdom refused to accept the Fire Nation's help, even when only Ba Sing Se and a peninsula in the southernmost part of the continent remained free. Over the years, she had given birth to multiple children, the Si Wong Desert, Omashu, Ba Sing Se, Gaoling, others. She had hoped, at first, that the Fire Nation would want her if he saw that so many other men saw her as desirable. He never gave a sign, not a flicker of jealousy, even as her belly grew big and she bore another child, a son or a daughter, to represent the more-or-less independent parts of her home.

Chin the Conqueror died, at the hands of Avatar Kyoshi while she split her home village's land from the mainland to form Kyoshi Island. Again, a child was born to the Earth Kingdom, a daughter, Kyoshi Island. Avatar Kyoshi went on to quell a citizen uprising that was sending Ba Sing Se into madness, saving the Earth Kingdom's eldest daughter. When she died, leaving behind the Kyoshi Warriors and the Dai Li to keep the peace in her home, the Earth Kingdom wanted to lay her to rest in a magnificent tomb. But the Avatar's last wish was to be buried humbly at her home, and so she was.

Half a century after Kyoshi's death, the Earth Kingdom noticed the Fire Nation begin to act strangely. He was less patient, more prone to anger, quicker to snap when a servant did something wrong. They saw each other less, and the Earth Kingdom began to fear she had angered him somehow.

One day she felt a sharp pain in her body, and knew immediately that her daughter Taku was in trouble. She ordered transportation, and found the coastal city smoking, with a Fire Nation flag flying from its highest tower. To say she was furious would have been accurate. To say she was hurt would have been an understatement. Using her anger to mask her pain, she demanded the Fire Nation tell her what the meaning of this was. He claimed his people were too numerous, and that this was his way of sharing his recent advancements with her.

The Avatar took her side, and ordered the colonies ended. For years afterwards, she refused to see the Fire Nation, knowing it was childish of her to refuse to meet with him but too proud to accept merely an apology. No, he would have to do some deed to prove to her that it was truly all a mistake.

Twelve years after Avatar Roku died, the Fire Nation massacred the Air Temples. They were wiped out simultaneously, but according to reports, he had personally killed the Western Air Temple, who he had before spoken of fondly, saying she was like a daughter to him.

At first, the Earth Kingdom didn't believe it. But she traveled to Taku, where she knew he would next attack, if that was his intent, and she waited. And he did come, and she wondered if her heart would break from this betrayal. His armies bombarded the city, and her body burned with the fires he was inflicting upon it.

Taku fell, her daughter died, and she was captured. The Earth Kingdom was led to the Fire Nation in chains, gagged and unable to convey her hatred for the man she couldn't help but love but for the glare her green eyes gave him. There was a strange look on his face, and she realized it was a mix of the insanity she had glimpsed in the Water Tribe the day she visited him and the love she had seen men bestow on their women. Where once she would have welcomed the love he gazed at her with, now, with the ashes of her citizens staining her skin and their death cries still ringing in her ears, she only glared at him.

He ordered everyone out, then undid her gag and spoke softly to her, using a twisted logic to try to convince her that she should surrender to him. All it did was spur her to anger, and she spat in his face before realizing what she had done. Face grim, he used a rag that was once an Earth Kingdom emblem to clean his face.

"I will win, one way or another." He informed her grimly, all pretense of love gone. It had been only an act, hadn't it? He had known of her feelings for him, and wanted to take advantage of them to convince her to surrender, so that he could kill her like he had killed the Western Air Temple.

"You may burn my children and my home, and chain me in the deepest dungeon." She growled at him, feeling like her heart would break. "You may whisper words of your pretend love to me and bind our hands together. But I will never surrender."

"My 'pretend' love?" The Fire Nation looked stunned, as if he had thought he was so great an actor he could fool her indefinitely. His face clouded with pain, and for a moment the Earth Kingdom doubted it was just an act. But his eyes hardened, and he knelt down to look her directly in the eye. "I speak only the truth when I say I am in love with you." Came the soft words, and she was pulled into a harsh kiss, and his lips were burning hot, and she fought back as hard as she could, but she wasn't strong enough. Mere hours later, she awoke from a light, troubled sleep, and slipped from his bed into the shadows of the camp. With silent footsteps, she made her way to an Earth Kingdom army base, and from there fled to Ba Sing Se.

The War had officially begun, but the Earth Kingdom knew something was different. Three months after that night, her stomach had begun to grow: six months after that, she gave birth to a child with the Fire Nation's golden eyes, but brown hair that neither of them possessed. Before the start of the War, she would have done anything to have that child: now she could only remember what had happened to bring her into the world, and was hardly able to stand the sight of her.

For nine months she tried to care for her baby, for their baby, but it was too much. She sent the child to him, along with a note that read the absolute truth and an utter lie, wrapped up in one. _I hate you._ Because she did, she hated him more than life, yet she still loved him with all of her heart. How such a contradiction could be, she did not know, and her heart raged with the pain of it.

She threw herself into the War, never fighting on the front lines for fear of seeing him again, but always present at a major battle. Her sons and daughters, and some of them were captured, some of them died, but after losing none returned to her. For ninety years, she fought, until she was forced inside the walls of Ba Sing Se, her daughter's home that she had not seen since the beginning of the War. It was different—her daughter was different. Ba Sing Se spoke in a monotone voice, exalting the greatness of her house while denying the War, even as the Fire Nation army set up camp just outside her walls.

One day, the Earth Kingdom ventured to the wall, and paced its length. She looked out over the tents, hoping without reason to catch a glimpse of the man she loved and hated. But he wasn't to be found, and she left the wall with an oddly heavy heart. The day after she ventured outside, the wall was breached. A week later she sent a special guerrilla force to attack the Fire Nation Army's commanding officers, and they pulled out entirely.

Ten more years, and she heard that the Avatar had returned at last. Thought to be dead with the Air Nomads, he had returned, and she felt hope once more. When the great drill came to Ba Sing Se's walls, bearing the Fire Nation insignia, she nearly surrendered, but the Avatar came and destroyed it, and she was delirious with joy. She could win—she could avenge her children! The Fire Nation would pay for the pain and suffering he had put her through, for the burns that now marred her once flawless body.

He brought news of an eclipse, one that would allow her to strike against the Fire Nation when he was most vulnerable, but the advisor to her Earth King refused to consider it. Then he was brought down, and Ba Sing Se began to recover from her odd, vague state. The Avatar had to go off to learn more so that he could control his powers better, leaving only his friend Katara to aid in planning the invasion. Three Kyoshi Warriors, her daughter's people, came to the palace, and the Avatar's friend Sokka confirmed that they were allies.

But then it turned out they weren't allies, and the Dai Li, once allies, became enemies, and betrayed the Earth Kingdom to aid the deceitful Fire Nation Princess in conquering the Earth Kingdom. Azula was a sly one, pretending to be a Kyoshi Warrior to gain entrance to the city, tricking them all while convincing the Dai Li to join her side and performing a coup.

The hope that had grown inside the Earth Kingdom died when she was again brought to the Fire Nation in chains. He performed a great speech that outlined his love for her, and she listened because she didn't know what else to do, and because she had been conquered. She belonged to him now. What had once been the Earth Kingdom was now dead, Fire Nation territory and nothing more.

Did she imagine the regret in his eyes?

He set a wedding date, and she couldn't care less that she had once loved him. That she still did. What did a dead woman do with love? And even as they spent the last days of spring and all the days of summer together, eating, wandering the beautiful streets of her daughter's home, acting for all the world like a happy couple, she felt that her chest was cold and empty. Her eyes, once bright with life, now stared dully from her face, even as maids combed and brushed her hair to perfection, adorned her in beautiful jewels and robes. She was just…dead.

And at the end of the summer, her body once more felt as if she was being burned alive, and the Fire Nation held her close and whispered comfortingly to her as she screamed and writhed in pain. It ended as abruptly as it had begun, and the Avatar came to Ba Sing Se to declare the War over, and the Earth Kingdom free.

Before, she had not spoken. Why would she? The dead did not speak. With her freedom regained, she found the strength to tell the Fire Nation half of the truth.

"I hate you."

She nearly gained custody of the Fire Nation Colonies, but she didn't want the child, not really, and so her father maintained control of her. Time passed: she forgave the Fire Nation as he wept for what he had done, to her and her children, but he could not forgive himself, and she feared he would never be the same. Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko eventually died, and a new Avatar, Avatar Korra, rose. Still the Fire Nation was withdrawn. It was as if he did not believe she had forgiven him.

Then one day, he returned to himself. She hoped fiercely that perhaps now they could be what they never were, mutually in love. But he never looked at her the way he once had, during the War, during his insanity. One day she visited him without announcing it first, and saw him standing in a field, watching a young girl play. The look on his face told her everything.

Her beloved had fallen for his future ruler.

And try as she might to hate the smiling child, she could not. So when Li ran from her family, seeking refuge with the Earth Kingdom, she was welcomed with kind words. Li found happiness on Kyoshi Island, and the Earth Kingdom wondered if the Fire Nation would accept his Princess's departure as a sign that she would never love him back.

But she loved him back. She just didn't know who he was.

Now she was gone, and try as the Earth Kingdom might, she could not help but want to save Li. Li, who had brought such joy to Kyoshi Island. Li, whose absence was tearing the Fire Nation apart.

Li, her rival in love, who just might have captured her own heart as well.


	5. Sun Warriors

**...I swear I didn't mean for it to take so long to get this out...**

**I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or the concept of personified Nations. Please enjoy my headcanon views of what the Sun Warriors is like. For those who want to know, her human name is Yumi.**

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**Sun Warriors**

She was the oldest surviving Nation, and none of the others even knew. Standing on the ancient stones of her greatest temple, black hair pulled back into a ponytail, golden eyes scanning the ruins for any reminder of the bustling metropolis it had once been, she could only cling to her life and pray her people endured even longer for her.

The world had been so much simpler when she was young. Her people built their temples and palaces and homes in the midst of vast jungles, crawling with dangerous creatures. Children laughed and played in the streets while men farmed or hunted and women cooked and cleaned and sewed.

In those days, she had the appearance of an adolescent, a girl not yet a woman but no longer a child. Her arms were covered in golden jewelry, and a cape of red feathers was slung over her back. When she ran, arms spread and hands clutching her cloak, her people would joke that she looked like she had wings.

Sun Warriors…that was her name. That was her people's name. They were the chosen children of the sun, gifted by the dragons with the fire that warmed their homes. Across a great sea, they knew there resided many tribes of primitive people, bickering and squabbling over land when there was more than enough to go around. But that didn't matter. Because the Sun Warriors, who lived on the volcanic Dragon Isles, were left to live in peace.

It hadn't always been just her on those Isles, though. Others had once been there, their names forgotten with time. She was the last of the ancient Nations, the only one to survive the tests of time. Like the Eternal Flame her people kept burning in their greatest temple, the Temple of Agni, so too would the Sun Warriors survive, fueled by the love of her citizens, until the very end of time.

Such warm, bright days she had lived through! Laughter echoed amongst her people, and you could taste their happiness in the air. Sun Warriors could run through her forests freely, playing with the wild komodo rhinos and teasing the falcon hawks by mimicking their calls. Her people received the greatest gift of all: the ability to create the life-giving fire, passed to them by the dragons. With such a wonderful gift, they could cook their food and warm their bodies even when they were in the midst of the jungle! Though not everyone possessed the gift, enough that life was made simpler.

Where had those days gone?

Time, inescapable time, was all she could blame. Her youth spanned centuries, but nobody could stay a child forever. Almost without her noticing, Sun Warriors began to change, grow, developing new features that frightened her with their implications. What did this mean, that she was no longer a carefree child? These lumps of flesh that sat upon her chest, this slender waist, those broad hips…was she becoming a woman?

And when had men begun to see her differently, to look more at her body than her face? It was a simple fact that no Nation could be ugly, because the earth that formed them was not ugly. The Sun Warriors was no exception, the breathtaking landscape of the Dragon Isles reflected in the shapely form of their personification.

She herself was beginning to see men differently as well. Powerful warriors were no longer merely men to be respected…her eyes lingered on them for longer than was necessary, their attributes suddenly holding greater appeal for her. Why hadn't she seen how shapely this one's muscles were before, or how fine the face was on this one? Was she really the one changing, or was it them?

Her first kiss was with a priest's son, a young Firebender who had expressed an interest in her before. She never forgot the feeling of his lips pressing against hers, the smell of leather and sun-oil and musky spice, the warmth of his hands on her waist. That was when she finally accepted it: she was a young woman.

Years passed, letting her get used to the changes in her body. She supposed it was the prosperity of her people that allowed her to grow up, to learn of new delights as the old ones from her childhood faded away. Her feet no longer yearned for the hard pound of jungle dirt, her hair no longer tangled itself with the speed of her running. More "womanly" delights occupied her, gardening and pottery and mixing herbs for remedies. An old bow gathered dust on the stone wall of her rooms, while aged spears propped in a dark corner slowly lost their sinew bindings.

It was worth it, though, this turn from her wild and free childhood. Stone cities grew around her, the greatest in the spot where she had been born—her capital. Huge ziggurats to the honor of Pele and Agni, the Volcano Queen and Fire God, were erected to house her priest-rulers and their families. The largest temple of all was dedicated to the dragons, the marvelous beasts who gave her people the gift of fire. Inside she hid the Sunstone, a golden egg that would one day hatch into the greatest dragon of all.

Life was good. Sun Warriors could walk down her streets, her veins, and feel the joy of her people, her blood. Every part of her rejoiced to have such a beautiful home, a peaceful life, wonderful things.

She was in her garden when they came—the others who were like her. Young boys, all of them, they brought a group of diplomats and soldiers into her capital city and ordered her to ally herself with one of them. Sun Warriors was astonished at their rudeness, and quickly set them straight: she was a peaceful Nation, with no desire to involve herself in war.

One of the boys—she could no longer recall his name easily, but thought it may have been "Ba Sing Se"—had seen her privately and tried to persuade her otherwise. "I have to live underground because of my brothers' cruelty!" He cried to her, clutching her hand. "Please, send your warriors to my aid! With the fire your people create, my brothers' Earthbenders will be no match! We can burn away their walls and expand both of our homes!"

"Fire is not meant to be destruction," Sun Warriors had replied coldly. "Fire is light and warmth and life. If you cannot realize that, how can we be allies?"

Ba Sing Se left disappointed. His other brothers begged Sun Warriors to help them, aid them, fight for them, but she still refused. One of them stood out in her mind, a young man with the human body of perhaps fifteen or sixteen. He was called Omashu, city of the Earthbenders, founded by the first woman to bear the gift. Omashu was kind, and strong, and handsome…and he found her beautiful.

It was years before the baby was born, the mixture of Sun Warrior and Earth Continent. Contact with the Continent increased steadily, diluting her culture, making it more like that of the Earth Nations. Sun Warriors waited and waited and waited until she almost couldn't bear it, wanting to see her child at last. Surely this child, this life inside of her, would be more beautiful than the sun itself, right?

At last, he came. Her baby boy, with hair as black as hers and eyes as gold as hers, skin so pale she almost feared the sun would burn him to a crisp the first time she took him outside. Such a blessing it was, to see him, hold him, kiss his face and touch his tiny hand and stroke his cheek. Like all Nations, he grew into a child quickly, nurtured and loved. This little miracle…the Fire Nation.

Factions of her people were splitting from her, settling the area around Caldera Mountain, even thinking of building their homes in the crater of the dormant volcano. She didn't mind—they were what made her child, what made him live, and she would do anything for her precious son, anything! Age assaulted her body, aches starting where none had been before in all her years, wrinkles starting to develop, gray threading her hair. The Earth Nations sent her son support as well, goods and crops to keep his people alive.

Fire Nation was such a sweet child. He played in Sun Warrior's garden, gathering up weeds and presenting his mother with "flowers." An innocent smile graced his face as he played with a toy spear, or a carved komodo rhino, or pretended he was a priest and lectured his toys about the importance of spiritual enlightenment and peace.

Who would have guessed at his future? Could anyone have foreseen that her child would grow into the "monster" of the world?

It was centuries before she realized she was starting to fade. Her son's people and culture grew until it was stronger than Sun Warriors' own, her son himself becoming a child too old to keep beside her at all times. Eventually he insisted he go to Caldera, his capital, and live there with his rulers the Fire Sages. Of course he would come and visit as often as he could: of course he would invite her to visit him whenever she wanted. Contact between them grew less frequent, sometimes strained.

Sun Warriors realized she was beginning to fade, her life sapping away into her son as he became the dominant figure of the Dragon Isles. The thought scared her to death—her, the Sun Warriors, who had endured for millennia before this child came along and threatened her existence! How could she be fading now? She didn't want to die!

But she loved her son. And if she survived, he might not.

For years she agonized over the thought, to save herself or keep her son safe, until finally one of her rulers had a plan. They discussed it, pondered the implications, and agreed it was their last chance.

All of her people moved to a nearby island, with a volcano that seethed with Pele's jealousy. Sun Warriors rarely responded to her son's letters, refused all offers to visit him or receive a visit herself. Her and her people made their preparations, and waited. And waited. And waited.

In the end, it was a typhoon, not a volcano, that did it. The storm hit one day in the afternoon, roaring through the village her people had created and destroying their homes, crops, and goods. But nobody was there, because once they knew the typhoon would cross through their home the Sun Warriors and her people packed up their most precious belongings—little more than a few articles of clothing and some old keepsakes—went to the boats hidden on the other side of the island, and sailed to their capital. Once there, they went into hiding deep within the jungle, taking care to avoid anyone who tried to investigate their home.

Sun Warriors hadn't been able to take a single thing with her. She knew her son would go to her home once he heard of the typhoon, hoping to help her recover. He would find the village empty, homes likely in shambles, without a body in sight. Stories and rumors would abound about what had happened, speculations of spirits and dark forces, but the end conclusion would be the same. The Sun Warriors was dead.

And the "dead" woman was carving a living for herself in the jungle, tending a small garden and missing her son.

More years passed. Her son grew, and those few traders she allowed to visit her brought news of his health. When he declared his Fire Lord absolute sovereign, it was all she could do to keep herself from rushing to his side to see how he fared with the change. The Earth Nations were all conquered by one of their own, who faded away as his newfound sister built the city of Ba Sing Se above the ground. Up north, a barbarian Nation called the Water Tribe split into two, his children carrying on his legacy. A girl who had visited Sun Warriors many times before, a Nation of wandering Airbenders, founded four Air Temples before passing on.

The world changed, but Sun Warriors lived on. She was so scared to die, to fade like everyone else had, that she refused to leave her jungle. When her son's Darkest Day came, she would not stir—when he began a War to rule the rest of the world and killed off all the dragons but the Masters, she would not voice a protest. Saddened at what he did, remembering the laughing child she once held in her arms, Sun Warriors locked herself away.

Standing there on the highest level of her tallest ziggurat, watching the sun set, Sun Warriors wondered when she had stopped truly living.


End file.
